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Email Megan Email Shayla Browse & Buy: Announcements Apartments & Rentals Automotive Employment Farmer's Market Financial Legals Merchandise for Sale Real Estate for Sale Recreational Call A Pro Page 1 Call A Pro Page 2 MARKETPLACE SUBSCRIBER CENTER Contact the Ledger Dispatch Subscribe Today COMMUNITY LINKS California Highway Patrol Traffic Info Page City of Jackson Jackson Police Department City of Amador Amador County Chamber of Commerce Amador Superior Court City of Plymouth Amador County Caltrans Road Conditions HomeTown Radio City of Ione Amador County Sheriff City of Sutter Creek CLICK GALLERIES April Click Submissions Click - March 25, 2008 Click - March 18, 2008 Click - March 11, 2008 Click — February 19, 2008 Photos Courtesy of John Shepherd More Click Galleries E-mail this article to a friend | Printer friendly format Church wins general plan amendment Thursday, February 12, 2009 By Roger Phelps A church could come up against the formidable Williamson Act after winning a legal exception from an Amador County regulation Tuesday. A stretch on Ridge Road that has come to be known as "Church Lane" because of the prevalence of local chapels might not get another place of worship if county supervisors down the line say a church-owned parcel must remain in agricultural use. But that's for the future. Right now, officials with Jackson Foursquare Church can put seven acres under a one-time exception from the county's general plan, which the Amador County Board of Supervisors agreed to allow at its Tuesday morning meeting. The parcel is near the intersection of Running Gold and Ridge roads outside Sutter Creek. County staff members recommended against such a "piecemeal" exemption from a current county moratorium on building applications. Awaiting completion of a general plan update, the county's policy thus far has been to deny such amendments due to the application moratorium. However, Senior Pastor Jay Donnelly said he believed the Foursquare Church's plan should receive special treatment, in part because it does not propose a residential-tract project. "We believe this meets the spirit and intent of the Williamson Act," Donnelly said. "A neighbor said, 'Ridge Road is Church Lane now.'" Supervisors granted a general plan exception, but they also cautioned Donnelly. Williamson Act provisions, they said, haven't been eased in Amador County in a long time. A state exception period intervened in the 1980s, but before that, the ban goes back beyond recent memory, according to county planning director Susan Grijalva. Roger Phelps Ledger Dispatch contributor COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE No comments have been posted in the last 15 days! 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